Grapheme-Color Synesthesia

Synesthesia is a neurological condition in which at least two senses are intertwined. Normally, a sensory input is perceived and handled by one modality of the brain. In synesthesia, it was presumed that a sensory input in one modality directly elicits an additional sensory activation in another sensory modality. The original perceived sensation is called the inducer and the additional perception is called the concurrent. So, for example, someone with synesthesia may see a certain letter of the alphabet and relate this to a specific color, where the letter is the inducer and the color is the concurrent. The inducer-concurrent pairing gives rise to the type of synesthesia. In the example given, the person has grapheme-color synesthesia, which
One of the most common types of synesthesia is grapheme-color synesthesia, which was previously described as when someone associates a certain letter or number with a specific color. Another common form is sound-color synesthesia in which a certain sound triggers a colored visual, usually a shape. Some less common, interesting forms include lexical-gustatory synesthesia, mirror touch synesthesia, and ordinal-linguistic personification (OLP). In lexical-gustatory synesthesia, a certain word is associated with a taste. In mirror touch synesthesia, a person may see someone else being touched and feel that touch at the same spot on their body. Lastly, in OLP synesthesia, a person associates ordered sequences (numbers, letters, months, etc.) with personalities. For example, someone with OLP synesthesia may describe there “A” as being mean because they visualize a grumpy, old man, whereas there “B” is happy because they visualize a child with an ice cream cone. While many different types of synesthesia exist, these seem to be the most commonly researched. It is important to note that in all of these types of synesthesia, the characteristics differ from person-to-person. Even in the most common form, grapheme-color synesthesia, one person may report that their “A” is red while another person will say that their “A” is yellow. Why this happens is
While these “thoughts” continued through time and were described in writing by personal experiences, it was not until 1880 that the condition was not only documented, but also brought to public attention by Sir Francis Galton. For decades following Galton’s initial observation of synesthesia, many scientists worldwide were provoked to start their own descriptive research. In the mid-20th century, however, the behaviorism movement started to rise, which focused on the idea that internal experiences cannot be observed or measured. With the rise of this idea, research on synesthesia declined because not only were many scientists restricted from further studying the topic, but few of them believed it was real. Instead, they believed these people were crazy, had hyperactive imaginations, were trying to draw attention to themselves; were just remembering childhood memories; and were ‘potheads’ or ‘acid junkies’ who were under the influence. iii It was not until the 1980’s when the idea of cognitive psychology, the ability to test and measure consciousness, outshined behaviorism and scientists worldwide, once again, began to research synesthesia. Initial studies following this new development were led by Richard E. Cytowic, which prompted scientists to shift from descriptive research to experimental research. This led to the largest turning point in